1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the protection of traffic (voice/data, in general, “information”) in WDM-based fiber optic transport networks, namely Optical Transport Networks (OTNs). In particular the method according to the present invention is applicable to ring topology networks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In current telecommunication networks it has become extremely important to have the capability of automatically restoring faults occurring in the networks themselves without impairing the functionality of the service.
Therefore, the telecommunications networks, and in particular the fiber optic networks, must be provided with protection means against possible failures in network elements. A fault may arise from a fiber break, or from a degrade of the fiber itself or the connector thereof, or from failure in the optical interface or another component of a network element.
At present, no traffic protection mechanism in fiber optic transport networks based on WDM technology is known, wherein such a mechanism operates at Optical Multiplex Section (reference could be made to ITU-T G. 872 draft).